Loch Ranza and its two castles.

As the ferry approached the jetty at the village of Lochranza on Arran, we decided that Loch Ranza would warrant some exploration before we set off on our long paddle back to Portavadie where we had left the car. The village of Lochranza nestles under steep hills on the shore of its eponymous loch. Some parts of the village get no direct sunlight in the winter as the sun never rises above the hill behind.


Leaving the ferry jetty, we paddled towards Loch Ranza castle. It has a superb defensive position on a narrow spit of land which projects into the loch. The castle was first built by the MacSweens in the 1200s but the L shaped tower house you see today dates from the 15th century.


Robert the Bruce came here in in 1306 and the castle was associated with the Scottish Kings for a long time thereafter. It was used as their base during battles with the Lords of the Isles for supremacy over the west coast and the Hebrides.


Many years ago Loch Ranza was a major base for the herring industry. Hundreds of small herring fishing boats sheltered in the loch, when great shoals of the "silver darlings" filled the Clyde. The herring have long gone and as reported in a yesterday's post, no fish are now landed on Arran.


As we paddled out from the Loch Ranza, the great rocky ridge of Caisteal Abhail soared above the hills behind the loch. Several granite tors castellate the ridge like battlements and the Gaelic name means "forked castle". Caisteal Abhail is Loch Ranza's second castle!

19/03/2009

Bottlenose dolphins cruising in the Clyde!

There is a pod of bottlenose dolphins cruising the Clyde at the moment. We saw them in the mouth of Loch Fyne, just south of Tarbert. The captain of the MV Loch Tarbert called us up on deck to witness an amazing display of leaping cetaceans. I have never taken so many photos of splashes!


How many dolphins do you see playing in the ferry's wake!


After all the excitement the MV Loch Tarbert motored on and after one and a half hours we disembarked at lovely Loch Ranza on Arran. This white van from a local hotel reversed down the slip to pick up several boxes of fish that had been put on the ferry at Tarbert. Amazingly, despite being surrounded by water and fishing boats, no fish are landed on the island. So now we know where the hotels get their fish!

19/03/2009

Up to the elbows in it!

Many sea kayakers, the world over, know Gordon Brown of Skyak either from attending one of his courses, like I have, or attending the Scottish Sea Kayak Symposium. Many others will know him only through his excellent book "Sea kayak" published by Pesda Press.

I am delighted to hear that my friend, and fellow sea kayaker, Simon Willis is currently making a series of instructional DVDs with Gordon. As Gordon is one of the most respected BCU level 5 coaches and Simon is a very experienced journalist and broadcaster, these should be really worth watching out for.

As you can see, Simon is up to his elbows in hard work!

Tarbert castle and East Loch Tarbert

After a breezy crossing of Loch Fyne, we slipped into the shelter of East Loch Tarbert under the grey walls of Tarbert castle. The name Tarbert lets you know that this is a narrow neck of land, separating two arms of the sea and that it was where the Vikings dragged their boats overland from one body of water to the other.


A castle was first built here by Magnus Barelegs in 1068. The present structure dates from the 13th century and was extended by King Robert the Bruce in 1325. The tower house, which is the most visible part of the ruins today, was added by King James IV in 1494.


We paddled deep into the recesses of the Loch and came to the small town of Tarbert with its multicoloured houses and rattling yacht masts.


We landed on a patch of seaweed...


...from previous experience, the mud at low tide is very foul smelling!


We enjoyed a lunch in the early spring sunshine, while waiting for the ferry to arrive.


After lunch we paddled back to the ferry jetty at the mouth of the loch. CalMac have recently changed their policy on carrying kayaks on ferries. They used to charge a flat £5 per single trip but they now go free! The only thing is, you need to be able to load and unload the kayaks yourself and not cause delay to the rest of the ferry traffic. A trolley is really the only sensible way to achieve this, especially if you are loaded with camping gear

19/03/2009

Of geology and pakora!

We landed at Bracken Bay to the south of the Heads of Ayr. This area must be a geologist's paradise. The Heads are a well preserved lower carboniferous volcanic vent but these adjacent weathered cliffs...


..are composed of the most wonderfully coloured layers of sedimentary rocks, which appear to be sandstone on top of a conglomerate layer.


Relieved by our exploration of the geological features we made our way onwards to Ayr. Phil is as pleased as punch with his new Quest. Just as well, as it was to be well tested twice within the week.


On arrival at Seafield in Ayr, David rushed off to Ayr India to obtain supplies of Scotland's national snack...pakora. All that talk of once hot rocks had given us an appetite for some hot food! We ate with gusto, as the sun went down behind the Heads of Ayr.


From Maidens to Seafield is 20.5km. Tony and I hit 15.5km surfing on following seas in the section south of Dunure.

15/03/2009

Return to Arran

We are on Glen Sannox beach after a force 5 wind against tide crossing from Bute and Portencross. Just heating up the bhoona!

21/03/2009

End of winter timetable.

Hidden away in the Calmac winter timetable is a little known ferry service. It only runs once per day, if places are reserved in advance, and it stops for the summer season on 26th of March. The ferry leaves Tarbert on the remote Kintyre peninsula at 1215 and arrives at Loch Ranza on Arran at 1340. I have often hoped for a settled spell at this time of year when the sun sets at 1830. This would allow just enough time to paddle back after taking the ferry to Loch Ranza.


We took the car over on the ferry from Gourock to Hunters Quay then drove past Loch Striven and the Kyles of Bute to Portavadie. We then enjoyed a wind assisted blast across the mouth of Loch Fyne to Tarbert where we planned to board the ferry to Arran.


Altogether we paddled 30km and on the way over to Tarbert we hit a maximum speed of 12km/hr.

19/03/2009

Spring is sprung in Skipness

Just paddled from Arran to Kintyre. We are sitting here in Heaven!

19/03/2009

En route to Arran

The ferry from Tarbert should arrive in Loch Ranza shortly. Then we will paddle back to Portavaddie. Just seen a pod of bottlenosed dolpins.

The sound of running water...

Tony and I slipped into the shelter of Dunure Harbour. Just before hand, in the fantastic mixture of swell and clapotis among the Dunure skerries, Tony said "isn't it great how much fun you can have only 10 miles from your front door?" I replied "and we're only 200 yards from the pub!"


We had arrived early and David and Phil were still loading their boats. Deck bags with flares and electric pumps and cans of ballast were carefully distributed. We were clearly ahead of schedule and so found ourselves within the portals of the pub! It had just opened after being closed for the winter. However, it will need to improve its service, we almost died of thirst before the Guinness arrived. It was a pleasure to be able to toast the good St Patrick and the arrival of Phil's new kayak.


We were soon heading north for Ayr. As the wind and swell were coming from the south, we were now sheltered by the headland at Dunure. A bottle was drifting towards the rocks but we did not stop to see if it contained a message.


Phil was pleased as punch with his new Quest. It was one of the first out of the mould but the previous owner had hardly used it.


The coastline was composed of low wooded cliffs over which a series of delightful burns...


...cascaded and splashed noisily into the sea.


The sound of running water has a certain physiological effect on men of a certain age. It was time for a stop at a convenient beach.

15/03/2009


Remember, alcohol and sea water do not mix!

A free ride to Dunure.

Within minutes from launching in the shelter of Maidens, we emerged into a fun ride of wind and swell that would carry us to Dunure at speeds of up to 15.4km/hr.


The coastline is formed of a series of underwater and raised beaches. Swells speed up when they hit the sunken beach and give some great paddling.


On Saturday the wind had being blowing from the SW at 20 to 30 knots but by Sunday it had dropped to a much more manageable 12 to 15 knots.


The swells from the day before gave us free ride after free ride and we were in Dunure about an hour before we had planned to meet David and Phil.



15/03/2009

Sea kayaking on home waters.

It has been a windy week but at last, today the wind dropped. Tony and I launched from Maidens on the Clyde coast and...


...made our way past Culzean towards Dunure. We had arranged to meet David and Phil there.

We had only just left the shore when the adventure began. Even on home waters, it's great to get out.

15/03/2009

Watch out for stolen Rockpool sea kayak in UK!

Here is a message from Graham King. I hope the low life that did this get caught soon.

"Please keep an eye out for my boat, stolen from outside my tent at Sheerness (Isle of Sheppey) in the small hours of this morning. It is a Rockpool Alaw Bach, with the following distinctive features:

white hull, yellow deck with slight glitter; 1/2 inch hole in back deck just abaft the rear hatch, with cable from solar panel sikaflexed in; Silva 70une compass on foredeck; Two black velcro strips abreast of day hatch (for tow bag), with cam cleat and fairlead; SOLAS tape on hull near bow and stern; "Musequality" charity stickers and "freelunchlog.blogspot.com" lettering on hull amidships.

Taken with the boat was a large quantity of kit, including:
Uniden Mystic VHF handset; GME MT410G Accusat GPS Personal Locator Beacon; Two Lendal paddles (four-piece carbon), including a set of Lendal wings with distinctive cream-coloured epoxy added protection to the tips; and much more stuff too numerous (and upsetting) to list. As you can see, the boat was set up for a major expedition in support of charity, for which I had been preparing for a long time. I was two days into a six month trip, and I'm just a tad upset!

Coastguard is aware of loss of VHF and PLB (EPIRB). Please report any sightings to Kent police on 01622 690690, quoting crime number CY-4422-09. Pictures will follow once I've worked out how."

The standing stones of Callanish.

Not very far from Dun Carloway, on the shores of Loch Rog, lies the stone circle of Calanais (Callanish).


I have posted about these ancient stones before.


Every time I visit Loch Rog (Roag)...


...something draws me back to this mysterious place which our ancestors created by the sea.

06/06/2008

Dun Carloway

High on a hill above Loch Rog in Lewis an amazing structure seems to grow out of the ancient rocks. It is the Iron Age broch of Dun Charlabhaigh (Dun Carloway). It was built over 2,000 years ago.


Most of its stones have been plundered over the millenia for neighbouring buildings.


But there is still enough left to explore its double walled structure which contains a spiral staircase.


The plaque from Historic Scotland explains more.

06/05/2008

Return to Miabhaig; all good things must pass.

From Vacsay we turned our bows to the west and made our way somewhat reluctantly and slowly to the Cuma, as she lay at anchor off Bhaltos pier.


After a final supper, we all gathered on deck as Cuma motored slowly and steadily into the recesses of Loch Rog. The Hebridean dusk was gathering as Cuma nudged into her berth on Miabhaig pier. She had motored some 380km since our departure just a few days before. We had only paddled 100km over the previous 7 days but what magnificent sea kayaking it had been. This was not done in straight line headland to headland style. Rather it was a detailed and intimate exploration of some of the most incredible beaches, cliffs, arches, caves, tunnels and geos.

If you ever wish to paddle round St Kilda, I cannot recommend Murty Campbell and Murdani and Cathie Macdonald highly enough.

05/06/2008